Sketch released of Palo Alto armed robbery suspect

Palo Alto police have released a sketch of a suspect who robbed a man at gunpoint at an apartment complex over the weekend.

At about 8:48 a.m. Saturday, Palo Alto police received a 911 call from a man saying he had been robbed in his carport. Officers arrived at the apartment on the 1000 block of Tanland Drive within a minute of the call, but the suspect was gone, police said.

According to police, the man said that as he arrived home in the carport, he noticed another man pacing back and forth nearby and thought it was odd. As the man parked his car and began walking through the carport, the suspect came around from behind a wall, pulled out a black semiautomatic pistol and pointed it at the man's stomach, police said. The suspect ordered the victim back into his car and demanded his wallet. The victim handed over the wallet, and the suspect ran away. He was last seeing running through Greer Park near the basketball courts, police said.

Police said the suspect is described as a black man in his 20s or early 30s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a thin build. The suspect was wearing a track suit with the hood up over his head.

Police are investigating if the suspect could be connected to another armed robbery that took place in downtown Palo Alto on Jan. 22, since the description of the suspect in that robbery is similar to the one in Saturday's incident.

Police ask residents to immediately call 911 if they see suspicious activity. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org; voicemails and texts can be sent to 650-383-8984.